Wednesday, December 30, 2015

yU+co. Turns Downtown Los Angeles into a Mammoth Digital Playground for Grand Park and The Music Center’s N.Y.E.L.A.

In a first-of-its-kind
immersive spectacle, dazzling digital imagery will appear to “bounce” between City
Hall, the County Hall of Records and The Music Center’s Dorothy Chandler
Pavilion as Los Angeles counts down to 2016.

HOLLYWOOD—On New Year’s Eve, three iconic
buildings in downtown Los Angeles will provide the canvas for a projection
mapping display unlike anything seen before. Part of the 3rd annual Grand Park + Music Center’s N.Y.E.L.A.,
the breathtaking spectacle of morphing light, color, shape and sound will
envelop—and sometimes appear to travel
between—the facades of City Hall, the County Hall of Records and The Music
Center’s Dorothy Chandler Pavilion and celebrate Los Angeles as it joins other
cities around the globe in ringing in the New Year.

Conceived by Garson Yu, creative director of the multi-media
digital design studio yU+co., in tandem with The Music Center’s Grand Park team,
the projection mapping display will be the first ever to join three towering
structures with synchronized animation.
The more than 50,000 people expected to fill Grand Park, The Music
Center Plaza and adjoining streets during the event will be fully immersed by
the display with a theme of human connectivity and global celebration.

Concept
art courtesy by yU+co

“New Year’s is a time when everyone, regardless of
nationality, language or belief, comes together to celebrate,” says Yu, who
also designed the 3D projection mapping display featured at last year’s Grand Park + The Music Center’s N.Y.E.L.A. “This display is
meant to encourage people to embrace both their differences and their
commonalities.”

The projection mapping display will include a four hour
pre-show followed by an adrenaline pounding five-minute countdown to midnight.
The event begins at 8:00 p.m. as the three buildings are “activated” and
transformed into a sprawling digital playground. The unique interplay of
imagery between the buildings will create a unified experience for everyone at the
event. City Hall will serve as the focal point of the pre-show display and the
centerpiece of the countdown to midnight.

Concept
art courtesy by yU+co

“This display
represents a milestone in multi-media public art,” says Yu. “We tell a single
story that plays out across the three buildings simultaneously. Members of the
audience experience it differently depending on where they are in the
environment and their orientation to the imagery taking shape all around them.”

yU+co. is a multi-media digital
design firm whose work spans film, television, public art, museum exhibition
design and location-based entertainment. Its work in the public arena combines
visionary artistry, cutting edge technology and unconventional storytelling
formats. Its City Hall project mapping for last year’s Grand Park + The Music Center’s N.Y.E.L.A. was the largest such
display in the city’s history. Last spring, yU+co. produced an animated video, projected
onto a 270° display measuring 17 feet by 591 feet that kicked off the 8th
Annual Google I/O Developers Conference in San Francisco. It was viewed by a
live audience of more than 6,000, plus millions more via the event’s live
stream.

Concept
art courtesy by yU+co

Grand Park
programming director Julia Diamond says that last year’s City Hall projection
mapping helped solidify Grand Park + The Music Center’s N.Y.E.L.A. as a
signature event for the city. “The countdown reflects L.A.’s role as the
creative epicenter of our world,” Diamond observes. “L.A. is home not only to
creative artists but to artists who are harnessing technology to push new
mediums forward, particularly in filmmaking and animation. With its use of 2D
and 3D mapping technology, Grand Park + The Music Center’s N.Y.E.L.A.
sits at the forefront of what art and technology can create. This is a true
21st century countdown.”

“We are bringing
together the best of Los Angeles…our role as the world’s entertainment capital,
our love for technology and the joy we take in our diversity,” says Yu. “It’s
an expression of what brings us together and what makes this a great city.”

Concept
art courtesy by yU+co

About yU+coSince its inception, yU+co. has
evolved from a design studio specializing in film title sequences to a global
award-winning multi-discipline creative firm that offers design and production
services for feature films, television, commercials, gaming and new media. Its story-driven
approach to design inspires marketing solutions that engage consumers with
brands and captivating narratives that entertain viewers across multiple
digital platforms.

With
offices in Hollywood, Hong Kong and Shanghai, yU+co. boasts an international
talent roster that includes directors, designers, producers, animators,
writers, programmers and visual effects artists. The diversity of our talent
pool creates a wellspring of cross-cultural ideas and experiences that adds
depth and originality to every project they work on. For more information go towww.yuco.com.